Sitting in the dining room of one of my clients, we tried to figure out what this super-successful business leader had in common with some of my other clients. Then it hit me – he had never worked in a company he didn’t own! I’ve been running my business for almost 30 years, and it … Continued
In the past I have proven why culture provides 100% of your profits. That’s a lot. I constantly work with my clients – successful owners of independent restaurant companies – to define their culture in a permanent way. This lets them direct the behavior of their people (i.e., everybody) who serve guests and the people … Continued
Proof of concept. Knowing your restaurant brand has legs – that its single-unit economics can be repeated and repeated and repeated – is like that can’t-fail feeling Hillary Clinton felt the night before the election. In the end, proof of concept doesn’t prove that success will follow, because no concept has permanent proof. That’s … Continued
Break old habits. Start new ones. That first day back from vacation offers you an incredible opportunity to do both – to adopt new behaviors and see breakthrough ideas and initiatives you definitely want to take advantage of. If you tend to rush into a skyscraper-sized group of e-mails, and don’t stop and think about … Continued
Many restaurateurs sleepwalk through writing their budget every year – forecasting menu price growth, inflation, or market growth as a revenue target. The best ones choose to wake up, and do a lot better than that. Revenue can always go up – faster than you expect. Recently, a well-respected restaurant group came to me with … Continued
You already know about the missing pieces in your organization. You experience nagging discomfort like a pebble in your running shoe or worse, a self-critical voice that hounds you about addressing them. This will impact you especially if you have a lot of pride in what you have accomplished. Before working with me, some of … Continued
Most of my clients guide teams in their multi-unit organizations through their next stage of growth, management development, concept development, branding, or culture. However, a few still are hands-on operators of their own restaurants. When that changes – when we improve everything by hiring the right director of operations and I educate this new owner/operator … Continued
If you are in the restaurant business, you have to pay attention to the problems (and solutions) at Subway. You can learn two gigantic things from this amazing business story. First, for those of you on the top, pay attention: When there’s innovation in your segment, take it seriously and respond to it no matter … Continued
The smartest restaurateurs know that they are not in the restaurant business—they are in the branding business. According to the Forbes 2018 World’s Most Valuable Brands list, the top five brands are Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon. However, these brands all experience a red-faced love/hate relationship with the general public. The same people swing wildly … Continued
What do your experienced eyes see when you walk through your dining rooms? The staff fastidiously on task? Dreaded empty tables when you’re on a wait? Your trusted long-time expeditor making sure food does not sit in the window too long? Craving data and KPIs, do you jump on your phone to see how revenue … Continued